Second US Tour of 2011 – blog #5 (Day 20)

Driving Stats:

Miles Driven - 3085 (approximate)
Average Speed - 50 mph
Miles Per Gallon - 32

We were nearing the end of my week in western NY when we last left off. I made a 4 mile detour to visit Tea Leaf Cafe and get another bubble tea to keep me company during my drive to the Rochester area. That night, I stayed at my brother-in-law's and his wife's house. They have a very big yard. It was my first visit to their house. I feel like I'm writing a 1st grade English assignment. The sky is blue. Sometimes clouds are in the sky. They are white, but not all of the time. Angry clouds are grey.

I have to go to the bathroom.

Okay - I'm back. Where were we? Ah yes, angry clouds are grey. It rained pretty much every day during the first two weeks of this tour (and it is a three-week tour, so that's a large portion of the days). During most of the week in NY, the highs were somewhere between the low fifties and 60 degrees. It didn't rain much on Thursday, and that was one of the nicer days of the week.

The show that evening wasn't so great. In fact, it was one of the worst ones of the tour. As I say, they can't all be winners. The first set actually went moderately okay, with at least one table of people paying attention to the show. They picked up a couple of cds, but unfortunately left during my break. For most of the second set, it was as though I wasn't even there. My brother-in-law and his wife clapped after songs, but it was a bit of a struggle to get through that set. During my last couple songs, a man came in and sat near the stage area. He sat by himself and was obviously paying attention. He clapped after the songs. I finished the show and started packing things up. We talked a bit, and he said, loud enough for the other people in the room to hear, "these people just don't get it, man." He was very encouraging, and seemed even more upset by the lack of response than I was. I was glad that he showed up. There's a verse in the New Testament about entertaining strangers who were, unbeknownst to us, angels. That's kind of how I feel about this guy, in retrospect. He was scruffy, and no one seemed to pay attention to him while he was there. He stuck around for my last few songs, and then left after talking to me for a moment. I don't even remember him getting coffee or anything while he was there.

So I left that gig in somewhat better spirits than I may have otherwise.

Friday (the 20th) was a good ending to my week of shows in the Empire State. It stayed dry for the majority of the day, and the temperature got warm enough that I was able to go out for my first run of the year. I would like to run year round, but my throat/lungs have some serious issues when the temperature is lower than, say, 62 degrees or so. This weather was just right. It's difficult fitting in days to run or exercise while on tour, because I usually need to make those days match up with when I will be doing laundry. I also notice that I seem to have less control with my singing voice on days that I run... I'm not sure what that's about, but I assume it has something to do with more forceful breathing that might aggravate my throat just a bit. Anyway, I was happy to be able to get a run in. I'll be playing Ultimate Frisbee all summer, and want to have gotten some running in before hitting the field.

That evening, I would return to Buffalo, to play more of a bona fide music show, to an audience that was there specifically for the show. Finding parking was a nightmare, which included: 1) someone pulling up right behind me as I was signalling to back up for a parallel parking situation; 2) someone pulling right in front of me as I signaled to pull forward into a spot that I was waiting for someone to pull out of; 3) someone driving the wrong way down a one-way street that I actually had to back up for, to let out onto another street; 4) one of the concert attendees getting a spot that I was circling around to try to get. After 3 times around the block, I decided to look elsewhere. I luckily found a spot that wasn't too far away, but it was kind of annoying, carrying all the gear and other stuff. I was a little bit later to sound check than I wanted to be, but it didn't effect anything else that evening, so all was well. I was just a bit rushed.

For this final show, I would be opening for a local Buffalo group called Shambu. The room we played in was the back room of a cafe/restaurant. It was a cozy, but good room to play in. We packed it pretty well, which is always a good thing.

Here are the guys in Shambu:

I sold several cds that night, and stuck around to catch half of Shambu's set. They were quite good. If you live in the Buffalo area, check them out. I would have stuck around the whole night, but was going back to the Rochester area to sleep that night, and had a 5 1/2 hour drive the next day. Someone in the audience recorded my entire set in HD, so we should have some new high-quality videos up on the YouTube page very soon!

I did, however, make another quick detour to Tea Leaf Cafe for my third and final bubble tea of the tour. My booking assistant got to have her first-ever bubble tea experience, as well as meet the owner, with whom she had communicated to set up the show I did earlier in the week.

Saturday was a bit of a blur, but I believe it was the first day of the tour without rain up to that point. I played in Bryn Mawr, PA that night. Bryn Mawr is just west of Philadelphia. Several fans in the area came out for the show, and it was good to see them again. A couple new fans came out, too, as the result of some word-spreading by a Nashville friend. Thanks, Doug! I say it at shows all the time, but it bears repeating here: Word of mouth is probably the independent musician's biggest ally. I can't over-stress how much of a help it is when fans spread the word to their friends about my shows, or talk to venues on my behalf, or do a little work to help set up shows. It's a huge help, and I appreciated it greatly.

Saturday was the first post-rapture day, I think. I didn't hear about any of my loved ones getting taken up. An Americana group out of Boston opened up for me, and as luck would have it, they have an interesting niche: they play old traditional Appalachian folk songs that deal with death, often on older instruments. They were pretty decent.

I decided to start the majority of the rest of my shows with "Can't Take It With You" from that date on.

I had a bit of a drive, to the Harrisburg area, after the show. Lots of driving that day. I got gas for $3.67(9) a gallon that night, which was the cheapest price I had seen it for up to that point during the tour. (I got some for $3.42(9) on Friday the 27th.)

Alright - I am off to the final engagement of this Second US Tour of 2011 now. I'll be making the long drive home to Nashville tomorrow, and hopefully doing a final blog post to recap the last week of this tour within the next several days.

Second US Tour of 2011 – blog #4 (Day 18)

Miles Driven - 2765
Average Speed - 50 mph
Miles Per Gallon – 32

Ah man, we are way behind now... I finished off at the end of the first weekend of this Tour, after an unusual Sunday which included the biggest tip I had ever received. But I have a good chunk of time while I chill before doing a show here in Charlottesville, VA, so I should be able to recap a good portion of the tour now.

The next week would consist almost entirely of shows in western NY (Buffalo and Rochester), thanks to the efforts of my new booking assistant. In lining up these shows, she has already proven to be more effective than any of the other booking “help” that I've had over the past 7 years.

On Saturday night, at my first public show in Buffalo since 2004, I sold my last remaining copy of the first press of my third album, Seesaw.

This is the first time that I have sold out of an album while on tour. Before I departed for this tour, I had reordered the discs, and they were supposed to be shipped to Pittsburgh, where they would arrive while I was still in town doing shows. But as timing would have it, the arrival date was off by 2 days. So I asked my Buffalo hosts if it would be okay to have the 1000 discs sent to their house, and they graciously said that it would be fine. So I had to go a few days without any copies of Seesaw available.

On Monday night, I performed at Tea Leaf Cafe in Amherst. I had the honor of being their very first musical act to perform. It was a great place to play, the staff and owner were almost excessively nice to me, but unfortunately attendance was a bit on the low side. I would later learn that school (there is a college campus very close) had just let out the Friday before...so that couldn't have helped. But the people who were there were into the music, and I sold a few albums. I will hopefully be returning to Tea Leaf Cafe during my Fall Tour, when we should be able to expect a better crowd.

As I left, I ordered a bubble tea to go, which would be my first NY bubble tea experience (I play at a tea place in OH that also makes these delicious drinks). The owner told me to stop by again at any point for a free bubble tea if I wanted to. I told him I just might take him up on the offer.

When I got back to my hosts' home, they were watching the season finale of The Fringe. I had never seen a single episode, so I was completely lost (which is another show I've yet to see). But the popcorn was pretty good.

On Tuesday, I had checked the tracking for the second pressing of Seesaw, and saw that it had arrived in Buffalo. I called UPS to see if I could go to their center and pick it up myself (the company that pressed the disc informed me that they'd let me do this). It wasn't scheduled to be delivered until Wednesday, and I figured they'd be happy to save the gas, and I'd have the disc available for more shows. But after spending 5-10 minutes on the phone, I was told that I could not come out to pick up the discs. I was pretty surprised.

That afternoon, instead of getting the discs, I spent some time doing some booking work and I believe I was able to post a blog entry that day, as well.

On Tuesday night, I had my first of two shows at SPoT Coffee. SPoT is a chain of coffee houses in western NY. I have actually known about them for years now, but had never played in one. They had me come out and play on Tuesday and Wednesday night. This is unusual for a number of reasons: 1) Coffee shops usually only have music on weekends; 2) They paid me (and fed me) to perform each night; 3) We scheduled these shows with very little advance notice; 4) They had me perform on back to back nights. They made up this nifty sign for me, which was the first thing I saw when I walked in the door:

The location that I performed in was huge. They had asked me to perform acoustic, or with just a small amp. I was a little surprised as I walked into the building. But it has high ceilings, and brick walls, and the sound carried in an amazing way. I travel with a small amp that I usually use as a monitor for my looper, and this was what I used to perform at SPoT.

Coffee shops make me nervous. Sometimes, they are good venues to perform in, where the people who want to listen are able to, because it's a quieter environment. But sometimes, they are full of people with their heads stuck in their laptops or cell phones or school work or other work. But there has been a strange phenomenon lately that usually holds true: the less that people seem to be paying attention, the more CDs will be sold, and tips given. This Tuesday night was no exception. I had a few people on my side throughout the show, but with the size of the place, and the number of people in the building, it was a less than encouraging atmosphere. But I would wind up selling 5 cds by the end of the evening. I even got a couple people to get up and dance. Ca razy.

On Wednesday the 18th, I would have my second two-show day. This was also the day that the newly-pressed CDs were scheduled to arrive. As I expected, they didn't arrive until I needed to leave for the first show. Oh well.

The first show was at an interesting coffee shop, which had two rooms, one of which had a stage set up in a corner. When I arrived, they didn't expect me to be there. They said they thought I was coming the previous week. I asked if I could still play, and the owner was fine with it. When I checked out the other room, there were only 3 people in there. I set up my amp (it was another brick room that carried well) and merch table, and a couple of other people had arrived by the time that I began playing. This would end up being my smallest audience for any show on the tour: 4. I played a few songs, and the 2 men who had arrived while I was setting up finished eating and left. With only 2 people left, I decided to finish just one more song, and pack up early. To my surprise, would up selling 3 cds (one to the owner). With only 5 people listening, I consider that a pretty good ratio of cds sold to people in the audience. Imagine if 200 people were there! I would have run out of cds!

I packed up the car and headed back out to SPoT for the second show there. This show was a little different from the first one, in a number of ways. There were slightly fewer people there, but more people seemed to be paying attention (and more people clapped after songs). But I only sold one cd, and made about 15 bucks in tips. Sta range. I sold more cds at the show that only had 5 people in the audience. You never know what's going to happen. I gave up trying to figure out why things turn out the way they do a long time ago.

Thursday night would bring me out to Rochester for a show, so I drove out that way after the second show on Wednesday night. But I made a stop at Tea Leaf Cafe for another delicious bubble tea to enjoy during the drive.

Well, I think this might be a good stopping point. Thanks for checking in here! Perhaps I will get another entry in tomorrow.

Second US Tour of 2011 – blog #3 (Day 13)

Driving Stats:

Miles Driven - 2135 (approximate)
Average Speed - 53 mph
Miles Per Gallon - 33


We left off at the end of the 4th day of this tour. This past week was mostly spent in western NY, doing shows that my new booking assistant was magically able to set up. The first day of this week of shows (Saturday the 14th) was my first 2-show day of the tour. The first show was a private house party. I played a couple sets for this outdoor party - they were resourceful enough to set up a few tents, as this day was the first of the bad days of rain during this tour. I played a few sets, but then had to book it on out to Merge Restaurant in Buffalo. There was a band playing at the house party that asked me to join them for a song or two, but I unfortunately didn't make it back in time to join them.

The show at Merge went pretty well. They only paid 20 bucks and dinner, which is pretty lousy for a Saturday show, but there was a decent group of people there who were actually listening. I wasn't quite sure what to expect, as: 1) it is a restaurant, 2) they keep the music volume pretty low, and 3) I had never played there before. But it was a supportive audience, and I wound up selling 3 cds and making a little bit in tips. As I ate dinner afterward, the head server (who does the booking there) also bought 3 cds. I think I passed the audition. I got back to the house party as the band was packing up.


The next day would bring probably the craziest day of the tour. I drove from Buffalo to Slippery Rock, PA, to play at my favorite bar - North Country Brewing Company. I almost always get a warm reception here, and people come out to listen to live music. It's great, especially for a Sunday afternoon. I got there to set up and eat lunch around 11:45. I went on at 1, and played my first set. After the set, a man approached me about performing at his friend's bar. I was flattered, but no one gave me any contact info, so who knows what will happen.

During the second set, this same friend of his arrived at the bar (or maybe he was already there, but came closer to where I was playing... I don't know). He was someone who had heard me perform at North Country previously. I said hey to him between my second and third sets. I performed the third set, and as I was getting ready to finish the set (and the show there), he came up to me with a wad of money, offering me $100 to play one more set. I was rather tired (I hadn't slept well the night before), and had driven 3+ hours from Buffalo to get there, and was going to drive another 3+ hours back to Buffalo where I would be staying the next few nights. But I figured it would be silly to pass on the offer. I thanked him, and said I would do another set, and went up to the bar to make sure that this would be okay. They okayed it, and were pretty surprised that someone had offered me $100 to keep playing.

As I went up for the additional 4th set, the same man tried to give me another $100 to "attempt" to play a Pearl Jam song. I like some Pearl Jam stuff, but I don't know any of their songs. He was kind of insistent, but I told him to keep his money - he said to just try a song, but I made it clear that I didn't know any PJ tunes. But as I completed 4th set, he came up again, giving me another $100. I told him to at least take some cds before he left... What a crazy show. I have actually been tipped $100 a few times before, but never $200. Needless to say, it was a good Sunday.

My netbook battery is about to die. Gotta Go!

Second US Tour of 2011 – blog #2 (Day 11)

Driving Stats:

Miles Driven - 1444
Average Speed - 52 mph
Miles Per Gallon - 32

Today's blog entry comes to you from just outside of Rochester, NY.

I only got through the first couple days of this tour when I had to pack up and head out for a show in Buffalo.

On Thursday the 12th, I would return to The Map Room in Regent Square (Pittsburgh) - a venue that I have grown fond of since my first visit in early October. I always seem to forget that I need my mic stand here. And when I needed to go get it, it had started to pour outside (better than inside, right?). So I ran outside to get the stand, and by the time I got back, I was wet.

Around the same time, a group of guys on a softball team had arrived, and as luck would have it, sat at the table right in front of me. I think I've mentioned this before; it's the Musicians' Murphy's Law: The loudest group of people in the room will somehow wind up closest to the stage. They proceeded to drink and yell over each other as they talked about their softball exploits, among other "guy stuff". Aside from generally being distracting to me, it makes it very difficult to try to win over a crowd when one group is as loud as they were. The eldest member of their group seemed to feel bad about their volume, and gave me a five-dollar tip. I was surprised, because I'm pretty certain he wasn't paying attention. I unfortunately only sold one cd, to the bartender. The worst I had done there previously was 6... so this evening was a bit of a letdown, but some people had come out to catch the show, which is always an encouraging thing. You take the good. You take the bad. You take them both, and there you have the facts of life.

On Friday, I would perform for the first time in the town where my mom grew up: Monongahela, PA. My aunt, uncle, and cousins still live there, and one of my cousins gave me the info for a bar (called The Bar) that he thought would be up for hosting live music. I hadn't been out to Monongahela in quite a while, so it was good to go back. As we got to The Bar, I was a little concerned, as every song pumping through the digital juke box was a rap song, or some white equivalent of non-sung rhymed music. But I set up as usual, and got ready to start playing around 8 pm. The only lights they had in the stage area where I would be playing were LED dance light things. But it was pretty dark where I was, so I decided they would be better than nothing. I was told that I was the first live performer that they had; they had used DJs in the past on some nights, so this made some sense. Here's what it looked like:

I would later confirm that I am not epileptic. These lights were flashing and gyrating, I tell you.

To my relief, it all went over very well (I'm always nervous about first-time gigs at bars, because I do my best to stick to original material, and bar people aren't always happy about that - I usually don't return to the bars like that). I had several people who I didn't know (and some that I did, but hadn't seen in years) come up and talk to me about live looping and pick up some cds. And the pastor that officiated my wedding came out, as well - it was a 45-minute drive for him, so I was pleasantly surprised to see him. It was a great night, and hopefully I'll return there at some point in the future.

Okay... I am now about to go out for a run (I actually packed some clothes for running for this tour, so I'm glad to have the opportunity). It's been raining every stinkin' day, and now it's finally nice outside. Gotta seize the opportunity, right?

See you here again in a few days or so!

Second US Tour of 2011 – blog #1 (Day 8)

Driving Stats:

Miles Driven - 1272
Average Speed - 55 mph
Miles Per Gallon - 32

Ah man, it's hard to update this blog when I'm playing every night... at least I'm getting to it now!

About a month ago, this tour looked like it was going to be my least-busy tour (with about 14 shows in 20 days) since the very first one I tried to book back in 2004. But since then, the music gods have smiled upon me and allowed the musical floodgates to open. Now, this tour is a 20-day, 24-show whirlwind! I want to send a special thank you out to my new booking assistant, who was somehow able to line up 7 shows in an amazingly short amount of time. And the gigs she got lined up have all been worthwhile ones so far. She has already done more work than the previous 5 or 6 booking agents that I've had "work" for me since I moved to Nashville.

I am only about a month away from the end of my 1st US Tour, which was the busiest one of my life so far. This second tour was rather difficult to book, due to the fact that my booking time was limited while I was on tour the first time. But thankfully I've got a full, busy schedule for this one.

This tour is kind of exciting because I am hitting some areas that I haven't been to in ages (namely Buffalo and Rochester, NY), and playing many venues that I've never performed in before. I have to prove myself to new audiences...which is slightly nerve-wracking, in a good way. Of the 24 shows I am doing, 16 are in brand new venues for me.

The tour began in Columbus, OH - a solid 300-mile drive from Nashville. My Berklee friend Michelle Lewis was kind enough to see about adding me to a bill that she was on with a local artist, Angela Perley. I opened up the show, and there was a nice little crowd there, especially considering it was a Tuesday night. I wound up selling 5 cds, all to new listeners. I drive through Columbus several times a year, so I will hopefully see some of you when I come back! I got some venue recommendations from one of the new listeners, as well. Columbus has been a bit of an enigma to me, so that should be helpful for future tours.

I stuck around for Michelle's set, and the beginning of Angela's set - but I had another 3 hours to drive to Pittsburgh, where I would be sleeping that night. I stopped into a Sheetz (a gas station chain in the northeastern US) on the way, and bought a delicious pina colada smoothie. I think it helped make the drive not take too long.

I don't remember when I woke up on Wednesday, but I'm sure it was late in the morning. I unfortunately woke up to the news that my dad had backed into my car on the way to work. The damage wasn't substantial, though, and the car is running fine. The driver door handle was busted a bit, but my handy dad was able to come up with a fix for it. I would later learn that Michelle (who was also playing in Pittsburgh on Wednesday night) got a flat tire on the way to her show that very night. A weird coincidence, I do say.

That night, I would be making my first visit to an open mic as the "Featured Performer". I am really thankful that many open mic series have features. It's a helpful weekday option for touring musicians to get a worthwhile performing opportunity on nights where it might otherwise be difficult to find other attractive options. And many open mic series are very well supported, getting scores of music-friendly folks out to either perform or just listen throughout the night. This series was very well-supported, and ran all the way from about 8:30 until ??? (I left around 11:30, and it was still going strong). I sold a few cds, and made some new friends, one of whom came out for a full show last weekend. It was a nice low-stress environment to play in after a long day of driving he previous day.

Well... I need to head out to SPoT Coffee here in Buffalo, NY for another show at one of those new venues that I mentioned. But hopefully I will be able to find some more time to type this week (and get a few pics up here)!

Thanks for joining me on this second tour of the year!